Aliens are real. At least that’s what former President Obama said last week. Of course, he later explained that what he meant was that the math favors aliens. Because of the sheer number of planets and the vast amount of time the universe has been in existence, it’s very likely there is life somewhere in the universe. But there’s no evidence (as far as we know) that aliens are visiting us, or that if there is life elsewhere it’s intelligent or even anything like us.

In October 2024, I wrote an article about UFOs for Science News Explores. I discussed the history of the UFO craze and the government’s changing response. I also dug into the science of alien life and why scientists are beginning to take the idea seriously.

But here’s one interesting fact I didn’t have room to include: By far, most UFO sightings happen in the United States. If aliens are zipping around Earth in spaceships, why do they spend most of their time over the US? It could be that people in the US are especially gullible, and just inclined to see a weather balloon, a satellite, or a weird looking cloud and scream UFO!! Or perhaps there’s something people in the US (or the US military) are doing that is of special interest to aliens (or perhaps of interest to another country with advanced spying technology that might look like UFOs).

But wait! After the US, the other countries in the top five for reporting UFO sightings are Canada, England, and Australia. Do aliens speak English!? (Germany is the other country in the top five. But Germans are far more likely to attribute UFOs to American or Russian spy technology than to little green men.)

’til next time, keep looking up.

Avery